One piece reclosable carton

ABSTRACT

An open topped rectangular carton body is connected to a sleeve by pairs of flaps connecting the upper edges of the carton walls to the upper edges of the sleeve. In open position the flaps are substantially coplanar with the carton walls to which they are hinged. In closed position the flaps of each pair fold substantially into face contact and at right angles to the walls, closing the top of the carton body when the sleeve is telescoped onto the carton body.

United States Patent [191 McLaren et a1.

[ ONE PIECE RECLOSABLE CARTON [75] Inventors: Edwin C. McLaren, Minneapolis;

Raymond Lund, Blaine, both of Minn.

[73] Assignee: Hoermer-Waldorf Corporation,

Ramsey County, Minn.

[22] Filed: Mar. 29, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 239,228

[52] US. Cl. 229/37 R, 229/27 [51] Int. Cl B65d 5/02 [58] Field of Search 229/37, 27

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,329,346 7/1967 Keith 229/37 R 3,278,108 10/1966 Paige 229/37 R 3,430,840 3/1969 Paige 229/37 R Dec. 25, 1973 2,713,894 7/1955 Paige 229/27 X 2,715,509 8/1955 Paige 229/27 X 3,254,825 6/1966 Nolem 229/37 R 3,371,844 3/1968 Perrella 229/37 R 2,843,808 7/1958 Paige 229/37 R Primary ExaminerDavis T. Moorhead AttorneyRobert M. Dunning ABSTRACT 1 Claim, 7 Drawing Figures a detachable I 1 -ONE.-PIECE- RECLOSABLE CARTON This invention relates to an improvement in one piece reclosable cartons and deals particuarly with a carton having a telescope top which opens up automatically when moved out of telescoping relation with the body of the carton.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Cartons having telescope type tops have been produced for a great number of years. Such cartons usually comprise a body in theform of an open topped tray, and a.cover in the form of an inverted tray having an open bottom. When the two partsare telescoped together, they are in the product encircling position.

Some attempts have'been made to produce telescope type cartons formed in one piece. US. Pat. No. 2,474,523 issued June 28, 1949 to Reynolds Guyer disclosed a one piece carton, the upper portion of which is folded and perforated in such a manner as to provide telescoping cover. US. Pat. No. 2,658,664 issued Nov. 19, 1953 to Russell]. Hennessey discloses a conventional type carton having a weak- .ened line of separationextending entirely around the body so that when the carton is severed along the weakened line of separation, the upper portion above the weakened line'may serve as a cover to telescope over the remainder of the carton.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a one piece carton having a body portion and a sleeve which is capable of telescoping onto the upper end of the body portion. The upper edges of the body portion are connected to the upper edges of the sleeve by flap members whichare foldable intermediate the edges thereof connected to the body portion and the edge thereof foldably connected to the sleeve. In closed position of the carton, these flap structures extend inwardly from the upperedges of the sleeve to form a closed top. In open position, the flap structures are generally coplanar with the walls of the carton. The carton may be opened or closed by merely moving the sleeve in an axial direction toward or away from the body portion.

A feature of the present invention lies in the formation of the flap structure connecting the sleeve to the body portion. Two opposed walls of the body portion are connected to the corresponding walls of the sleeve by generally rectangular panels which are centrally transversely foldable to'provide ,two connected flaps,

the opposed flaps on opposite sides of the carton termi- "nating in spaced relation. The remaining two opposed side walls of the carton body are connected to corresponding'walls of the sleeve 'by a pair of generally trapezoidal flaps wich are hingedly connected along their shorter parallel edges, and which are hingedly connected to the upper edge of the carton wall and the upper edge of the sleeve respectively. The shorter parallel edges of these trapezoidal flaps are in substantially edge abutting relation in the closed position of the carton. The shorter parallel trapezoidal edges of the flaps extend between the centrally folded edges of the rectangular flaps to form the closure.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the provision of notches extending into the ends of the 'shorter parallel sides of the trapezoidal flaps. These notches accommodate the folded edges of the rectangular flaps in closed condition of the carton. The distance between the bases of these notches is substantially equal to the distance between the central ,fold lines of the rectangular flaps when the carton is closed.

An added feature of the present invention resides in the provision of slots extending into the body portion of the carton from the upper edge thereof, the slots extending along the fold lines connecting the carton walls. These slots permit the upper areas of the side walls to flex inwardly to facilitate the cover portion onto the body portion.

These and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following Specification and Claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a one piece reclosable carton in closed position.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the carton illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a carton in its open position.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the container in partically closed position.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view of the blank from which the carton is formed.

FIG..6 is a diagrammatic view of the blank after the first folding operation.

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic view of the upper end portion of the carton in flat folded form.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The carton is illustrated in general by the letter A. The carton includes a face panel 10, a side wall panel 11, a second face panel 12, and a second side wall panel 13 which are connected together along parallel lines of fold 14, 15 and 16. A glue flap 17 is hingedly connected to the second side wall 13 along a fold line 19 which is parallel to the fold lines which were previously described.

A series of bottom closure flaps are connected to the lower edges of the various wall panels along a'line of fold 20. Closure flaps 21, 22, 23 and 24 are foldably connected to the walls 10, 11, 12 and 13 respectively. The flap 23 is shown as being substantially the full area of the cross section of a carton. The closure flaps are designed to provide an automatic bottom which will fold into horizontal position when the container is opened. The closure flap 21 is provided with one corner cut off along a diagonal cut line 25. A diagonal fold line 26 extends across the closure flap 22 from the juncture between the fold line 14 and the fold line 20. This fold line 26 divides the bottom closure flap into a generally trapezoidal area connected to the side wall along the fold line 20, and a generally triangular area 27.

In a similar manner, the bottom closure flap 24 is provided with a-fold line 29 which extends diagonally from the juncture of the fold lines 16 and 20. This divides the bottom closure flap into a trapezoidal area and a triangular area 30. The triangular areas are all folded into face contact with the remainder of the closure flaps to which they are'hinged, and are adhered to the remaining closure flaps in a manner which is well known in the artin order toautomaticallyform' the carton closure. v 1

Various flap. structures serve to connect the upper edges of the carton walls with a band 31 which forms the periphery of the carton cover. The flap structures upper edge of the band .31 along the fold line 33. The

two rectangular panels 35 and '36 are connected along the central foldline 37. H

The flap structure connecting the side wall panel 13 to the band portion 31 is similar to that previously described. A rectangular flap 39 is hingedly connected to the upper edge of the panel 13 along the fold line 32, and a similar rectangular panel 40 is hingedlyv connected to what will become the upper edge of the band 31 along the fold line 33. The two rectangular flaps are hingedly connected together along the central fold line 42.

' The wall is connected to the portion 43 of the band 31 by a flap structure including a trapezoidal flap 44 and a similar trapezoidal flap 45 which are hingedly connected together along the fold line 46. The trapezoidal flaps are arranged with their longest parallel edge hingedly connected to the wall 10 and the ,band portion 43, while the shorter parallel edges are the hingedly connected edges. The incline d edges of the trapezoides are at equal angles to the parallel edges thereof.

The flap structure connecting the wall 12 to the portion 49 of the band 3l'is similar to that just described. The flap structure includes a trapezoidal flap 50 hinged to the upper edge of the side wall 12, and a similar trapezoidal flange 51 hinged to what will become the upper edge of the band 31 along the fold line 33. The flaps 50 and 51 are hingedly connected along their shorter'parallel edges with the fold line 52. The inclined edges of the trapezoidal flaps are at an equal angle to the fold lines connecting the flaps to the side wall 12 and the band portion 49 respectively.

Notches 53 extend into the flap structure at opposite ends of the fold line 46. Similarnotches 54 extend into the flap structure connecting the side wall 12 to the band portion 49 along opposite ends of the fold line 52. The distance between the 'bases of the notches 53 and 54 is actually approximately equal to the distance between the fold lines 37 and 42 when the cover is in its closed position.

The various bandportions arehingedly connected along double fold lines. Double fold lines 55 connect the band section 43 with the band section 34.Double fold lines 56 connect the band section 34 to the band section 49. Double fold lines 57 connect the band section 49 to the band section 41. Double fold lines 59 connect the band section 41 to a glue flap 60.

In the formation of the carton, the band 31 is folded along the fold line 33 to lie outwardly of the flaps, 36, 40, 45 and 51. When the packageis designed to accommodate prepared food such as roast chicken, french fired potatoes and the like, vent means are provided to permit the escape of mositure vapor. The vent means include generally U-shaped tabs 61 in the ractangular flaps 36'and 40 which are hingedly connected to the flap structure along fold lines 62 normally parallel to the fold line 33. The'flaps 35 and 39 are preferrably provided with apertures 63 which are somewhat larger in diameter than the U shaped cut members so that these tabs 61 may be pressed down inwardly to provide vent openings. Similar vent tabs 64-may'also be provided in the walls such as; 11 and 13.

After the'top has been folded into the position indicated in FIG, 6 of the drawings, the blank'may be secured together along its glue flaps. The glue flap 17 may be adhered tothe inner surface of the wall panel 10, and the glue flap 60 may'befolded to overlie the outer surface of the band portion 43. r

When the carton is setup, the bottom of the carton is in right angular relation to the various walls. In order to close the carton, the band 31 is pressed downwardly toward the top of the carton from the position indicated in FIG. 3 of the drawings toward the position indicated in FIG. 4. This causes the variousflap 'structures to fold inwardly. As the band 31 is telescoped unto the top'of the various walls, the flap structures form a flat top closure of the type best illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings.

Y In order to simplify the telescoping of the band 31 unto the top of the carton, notches are provided extending downwardly from the upper edges of the side walls along the various fold lines. The notches 65, 66 and 67 extenddownwardly alongthe upper edges of the fold lines 14, 15 and 16. Similarly, a slot 69 extends downwardly between the upper end of the side wall panel 13 and the glue flap 17. This permits the upper ends of the side walls to flex inwardly to someextent, thereby permitting the cover to be'readily' removed and replaced.

By making the flaps 44, 35, 50'and 39 which are connected to the side walls 10, ll, 12 and 13 respectfully slightly shorter than the adjoining'flaps 45, 36,51 and 40, the flaps exert an'inward pulling effect on the upper edges of the side walls as the carton'is closed, simplifying the task of applying the band 31 over the carton walls. a r

In accordance with the Patent Statutes I have described the principles of construction and operation of my ONE PIECE RECLOSABLE CARTON, and while I have endeavord to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the following Claims without departing from the spirit of my invention i I The claims: Y

a l. A carton closure for use in combination with an open topped rectangular carton body having a closed bottom end and rectangularly arranged side walls, in-

eluding:

' a sleeve adapted to telescope onto the upper end of said carton body, I a first flap hingedly connected to the each of the carton side walls, I a second flap foldably connected to each said first hinge flap along a fold line parallel to the hinge line 'connectingsaid'first side wall to its adjoining side wall, hinge lines connecting each said second'flap to an upper edge of said sleeve, I said first and second flaps being'of substantially equal length and foldable from a position substantially upper edge of coplanar with the walls to which the flaps are connected to a position in which the first and second flap of each pair substantially in parallel face contact when said sleeve is in carton body encircling position; said flaps extending inwardly to form a closure for said carton body, said first and second flaps connected to two opposed side walls being of generally rectangular form, and the first and second flaps hingedly connected to the remaining opposed side walls are of generally trapezoidal shape with the longer parallel edges connected to the carton body and upper sleeve, respectively, and the shorter parallel edges are connected along said fold line,

said fold lines connecting said generally rectangular first and second flaps terminating in spaced relaedges thereof at the juncture between said walls. 

1. A carton closure for use in combination with an open topped rectangular carton body having a closed bottom end and rectangularly arranged side walls, including: a sleeve adapted to telescope onto the upper end of said carton body, a first flap hingedly connected to the upper edge of each of the carton side walls, a second flap foldably connected to each said first hinge flap along a fold line parallel to the hinge line connecting said first side wall to its adjoining side wall, hinge lines connecting each said second flap to an upper edge of said sleeve, said first and second flaps being of substantially equal length and foldable from a position substantially coplanar with the walls to which the flaps are connected to a position in which the first and second flap of each pair substantially in parallel face contact when said sleeve is in carton body encircling position; said flaps extending inwardly to form a closure for said carton body, said first and second flaps connected to two opposed side walls being of generally rectangular form, and the first and second flaps hingedly connected to the remaining opposed side walls are of generally trapezoidal shape with the longer parallel edges connected to the carton body and upper sleeve, respectively, and the shorter parallel edges are connected along said fold line, said fold lines connecting said generally rectangular first and second flaps terminating in spaced relation when said first and second flaps are substantially in face contact, notches extending into said fold line connecting the first and second flaps of trapezoidal shape, said fold lines connecting said generally rectangular first and second flaps terminating in spaced relation when said first and second flaps are substantially in face contact, and the distance between said notches is substantially equal to the distance between said fold lines, said notches accommodating portions of said first and second generally rectangular flaps adjoining said fold lines, and notches extending into said carton from the upper edges thereof at the juncture between said walls. 